


Between Part and Meet

by theworldthatneverwas (FlightlessPhoenix)



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Aromantic, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Minor Brain, Minor Lauriam, Minor Ventus, POV Second Person, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29012196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlightlessPhoenix/pseuds/theworldthatneverwas
Summary: You, Ephemer, and Skuld are back together again in Daybreak Town, but adjusting to normal life after the Keyblade War is easier said than done. And with Ephemer and Skuld so busy with their Union leader duties, what will it take to build this friendship up to weather any storm?Updates biweekly on Tuesdays.
Relationships: Ephemer & Player Character & Skuld (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 18





	1. Trio

“Do you have a reservation, kupo?” the Moogle at the host stand asks you.

“Um, yes, I think so,” you say. “It might be under Ephemer?”

The Moogle scans through the list and nods. “You’re the first to arrive. Come this way, kupo.”

Feeling a little out of place, you follow the Moogle to a comfortable-looking booth with a frosted window overlooking the streets of Daybreak Town. You slide into the booth and are handed a menu and a bundle of utensils. “Can I get you anything to drink while you wait, kupo?” the Moogle asks.

“Um, just water is fine,” you reply a bit distractedly. The Moogle nods and floats away, leaving you to glance over the menu.

You’ve always been the early one when meeting up with Ephemer, and often when meeting with Skuld, too. It just feels nicer being early than it does being right on time or late. But this is the first time the three of you are meeting up outside of the clock tower, and not at anyone’s home. You hope they aren’t so busy with Union leader stuff that they forget about your plans together tonight at this restaurant.

You’ve even dressed up for the occasion – not _too_ much, of course, but you’re not just wearing your usual mission clothes, either. Chirithy had helped you pick out your outfit and had been patient as you tried on different articles of clothing until you settled on this one. 

You glance at the menu items without really reading them. You haven’t eaten at a restaurant in ages. So long, in fact, that you wonder briefly if there are any etiquette rules you might have forgotten. The Moogle comes back with your glass of water and you glance around at the other restaurant-goers. Many seem to be eating together in pairs, you realize. There’s a rather rowdy group of friends in a corner near the door, and a table of people who seem to have finished their food long ago and are just sitting and talking. That seems nice, you think. Just having somewhere to sit and talk with your friends.

There’s a tap on your shoulder and you look up with a jolt, then relax as you recognize the smiling face of Skuld. “Hope I haven’t kept you waiting long,” she says, sliding into the seat across from you. “Ephemer’s on his way too, but he told me to go without him in case you came early so you wouldn’t be sitting alone. We both guessed you’d be the first to arrive.”

“Typical,” you say, waving your hand dismissively. “But – wait I didn’t get a good look at you before you sat down. That’s a really nice shirt! Can I see the whole outfit?”

Skuld’s smile is radiant as she shimmies out of the booth to stand so you can see the whole outfit. Her usual skirt and zippered top are traded out for a lovely top with a high neckline and high-waisted pants. She’s even tied her hair into an elegant updo, though you can see that she hasn't traded out her familiar star-shaped studs. “You look wonderful!” you say. “I’m flattered you’d take the time to put your hair up like that, too. Did it take long?”

“I got Lauriam to help, actually,” she says, sitting back down and turning her head so you can admire the delicate twists of her hair. “He’s got all kinds of weird skills like that. He walked past me trying to do it myself and offered to help, and well, here we are.”

“He seems like a pretty interesting guy,” you say, propping up your cheek on your hand. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to help him with his little sister. Have you found out anything more about her?”

“Not yet, I’m afraid.”

Just then, a Moogle comes by with another water for Skuld. “Need a bit more time before you decide, kupo?” they ask, and you both nod in unison.

“I haven’t even looked at the menu,” you admit, pulling it up in front of you again. “Is there anything you recommend?”

“Hmm…” Skuld muses, running a finger down some of the options. “I’ve heard they have good spinach dip. And that their pastas are huge so it’s good to share.”

“Those both sound good. We could all get something different and try each others’, too.”

“I hope you two haven’t ordered without me.”

You look up from the menu to see Ephemer, smiling broadly. He slides into the booth next to you and you look him up and down to take in his outfit. Of all things, you’re most surprised that his red scarf is nowhere in sight, though he’s wearing a collared shirt that’s a similar shade of crimson. He’s even tucked his shirt into proper dress pants. His sleeves are rolled up, though his usual gloves are gone, too. It’s a rather nice look on him. 

“Wow, Eph, you really cleaned up,” Skuld teases, leaning across the table.

“Excuse you, I always look this dashing – I just have specific wardrobe choices I like to keep to. Gotta maintain a certain aesthetic.”

You grin. “You look really nice. Your hair’s even less poofy than usual.” And it’s true, too – his normally chaotically curly hair is surprisingly tame today. 

He turns to you and raises a hand to lightly pat at his own hair. “It took a lot more effort than I usually put into it,” he admits. He takes a moment to look at your own outfit and smiles. “You look pretty nice, yourself. Really nice, I mean. It suits you.”

You find your face growing warm at the compliment and hide it by directing everyone’s attention to the menu again. “So, what are we eating? Skuld and I were thinking we could each get something different to share.”

“Ooh, I like that,” Ephemer says, rotating the menu to read it better. “Can we share some of these appetisers first, maybe? And then get a bigger meal.”

You gesture across the table. “Skuld was just saying the spinach dip is supposed to be good. And the pasta portions are really big.”

“Okay, let’s do the spinach dip then, and maybe two of the pastas?”

You and Skuld both nod in agreement. “Sounds good.”

Just then, a Moogle comes by with a third glass of water for Ephemer and asks, “Does everyone know what they’d like to order, kupo?”

“Uh… I’ll let you guys each pick a pasta,” you say, and they both quickly study the menu. “We’ll have some spinach dip to start.”

“Let’s go with this… noc… no-chee and sweet potatoes pasta,” Ephemer says, and you chuckle under your breath as you look at the entry he’s pointing to on the menu.

“The sweet potato and hazelnut gnocchi,” you correct, and Ephemer looks a bit bewildered as he studies the word again, one eyebrow raised.

“Oh that sounds good, okay, and then how about this smoked salmon alfredo for the second pasta,” Skuld says to the Moogle, pointing at the menu before handing it over to them. “We’d like to split them so if you could just bring us a couple of side plates that would be excellent.”

“Understood, kupo. Can I get you anything else to drink?”

Ephemer suddenly looks hopeful. “Do you have milkshakes?” he asks in an unusually small voice.

Though it’s hard to understand Moogle expressions, you think this one might be smiling. “Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry milkshakes, kupo.”

“I’ll have a vanilla milkshake, then,” he says.

The Moogle nods. “I’ll be back with it soon, kupo!”

Skuld shakes her head at Ephemer. “A milkshake, huh?”

“I’m always up for ice cream,” he says. He bumps your shoulder with his own. “Wonder what a sea salt ice cream milkshake would taste like.”

You shrug. “Probably much the same as the ice cream itself. Sweet and a bit salty.”

“Do you think ice cream is hard to make? It seems like it would be.”

“Can’t say I’ve ever tried it. Might need a special machine or something. I’m not sure how it gets so fluffy.”

“If it’s anything like whipped cream,” Skuld chimes in, “I bet it needs a lot of mixing.”

In short order, Ephemer’s milkshake is delivered. He takes an eager sip from the straw and lets out a satisfied “ahh” before he pushes it towards you. “Want some?”

You take a sip yourself. It’s wonderfully creamy and vanilla-y. “Yum,” you say, licking your lips. 

Ephemer offers his drink to Skuld in turn and she takes a small sip. “Oh that _is_ good,” she says. “Now I almost wish I’d gotten one, too.”

“Excuse me!” Ephemer says abruptly, stopping a nearby Moogle who was passing by your booth. “Could we get two more milkshakes?”

“What kind would you like, kupo?”

“Wha – Ephemer, I don’t _actually_ need one–” Skuld splutters, reddening under the Moogle’s expectant gaze.

He shakes his head at her. “Just go for it!” he says. “You may as well while we’re here.”

“Um, one strawberry milkshake,” you say politely. Ephemer grins at you and Skuld sighs before giving in.

“Okay, and one… one chocolate milkshake.”

“Got it. I’ll be right back, kupo.”

Skuld stretches her arms out over the table. “I shouldn’t let you guys convince me to buy things I don’t need,” she says.

You shrug. “I think it’s good to treat yourself, too. If you only ever bought things you absolutely needed you’d have nothing to look forward to.”

“I was just going to say you should buy milkshakes because they’re delicious but that sounds much more reasonable.” Ephemer takes another sip of his milkshake. “Soo good.”

Skuld leans against the back of the booth. “True. On both accounts, really.”

The Moogle returns with your requested milkshakes and you take an eager sip of yours. “Oh the strawberry flavour is so nice,” you say, sliding it along the table to Ephemer. “Try some?”

Skuld takes a sip of her own drink and smiles. “I mean, it is good. Here, try mine too.” You swap drinks. The chocolate has almost a hint of bitterness to it, and it, too, is very tasty. 

The three of you make small talk until your spinach dip is delivered not long after. You scoop some of the warm cheesy dip onto a piece of toasted flatbread and blow on it before taking a tiny bite. It’s very hot, but also pleasantly creamy and flavourful.

“So Ephemer,” Skuld says as she scoops some of the dip onto a piece of bread, “can we talk about how you’ve never seen the word ‘gnocchi’ before?” You snort with laughter, suddenly remembering. 

Ephemer is indignant. “I _have_ seen it before! I’ve just never had to say it aloud!”

To Ephemer’s credit, it’s not an easy word to understand the pronunciation of, but it’s too fun to tease him like this. “Do you know what _gnocchi_ is?”

“I do! It’s like little potato pasta things. Isn’t it?” He suddenly seems a bit unsure of himself and looks to you for support.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much right,” you laugh, taking another bite of your appetiser. “How did he say it again?” You turn to Skuld. “'No-chee'?”

She grins and Ephemer ducks his head slightly under the pretense of taking another sip of his milkshake. You can see that his cheeks have gone a bit pink. You pat his leg under the table. “Aw, it’s okay, sunshine. We’re just having a bit of fun. I think the Moogle knew what you wanted, anyway.”

He leans his head against your shoulder in mock grief. “All I wanted was some pasta.”

You pat his hair gently. It’s extremely soft today, perhaps having something to do with however he got his curls to look more tame. You reach forward to grab another piece of bread to dunk in the spinach dip and Ephemer sits back up so he can help himself as well. The appetiser wasn’t too big, and it’s just enough to satisfy your hunger a teeny bit until you get the pasta dishes. 

“Oh, I meant to tell you,” Skuld says, pushing the dirty plates off to one side so she can reach a hand towards you over the table. “I finally saw Brain make food today. Or well, not really _make_ food. But I did catch him eating some hard-boiled eggs? So I assume he made them himself.”

“Oh good, proof he actually does eat sometimes.” You trace your thumb over the back of Skuld’s hand. “I wonder if he ever goes out to eat. Do you think he hoards food in his room?”

She looks thoughtful. “Honestly the only places I ever see him are in the control room, in the main meeting room, or in his own room. So I can’t imagine he just heads out on the town to buy food very often.”

“I don’t know if that’s true,” Ephemer adds, propping up his cheek on his elbow. “He left with Lauriam one time to go somewhere in Daybreak Town. I don’t know if they went shopping, exactly, but they went out to do _something_.”

“Maybe the reason he always leaves fighting monsters to the rest of us is because he never has any energy due to lack of food.”

“Does he drink coffee?” you ask, trying to think if you’d seen him with a mug or a cup of anything the last time you’d been at the clock tower.

“I… don’t… think so? He might. There isn’t a coffee machine in the common kitchen area though, so he’d have to have it in his room.” She looks at Ephemer. “I don’t know if I’ve ever even seen him have a glass of water when he’s working.”

“Oh, no, one time I offered him a cup and he was scandalized. Told me off for even thinking of putting water anywhere near all of the computers. Which I guess kind of makes sense. We often have a bunch of papers all over the desks too so it would be bad if we spilled something on them.”

“Hmm,” you say, tracing along a dark line in the wood of the table top with your free hand. “Do you think it’d be weird if we tried to get together and have a meal sometime? Like, all the Union leaders. Or would that be extra weird to have me along since I’m not really part of the leaders…” You trail off, wondering if you’ve overstepped.

Skuld squeezes your other hand reassuringly. “No, I think that sounds great! I love your cooking. We could all try to pitch in and have a potluck, maybe!”

“Yeah that sounds excellent!” Ephemer agrees, nodding. “I’m always up for good food.”

“You’d have to make something too,” you point out. “It’s a potluck.”

“I can make food!” he insists. “You two have no faith in me.”

You and Skuld exchange a grin. “I’ll believe it when I taste it,” you tease.

Your food arrives just then, and you let go of Skuld’s hand to clear a space in the middle of the table for it to be set down. Both pastas are steaming and look wonderful. The Moogle places some extra plates down as well and picks up your spinach dip dishes to take away while another Moogle comes by with a cheese grater.

“Can I offer you some Parmesan cheese, kupo?” they ask, and Ephemer eagerly offers forth the smoked salmon dish.

“Yes, please!” he says, then looks to you and Skuld to confirm this is okay. Skuld shrugs and nods and you agree. The Moogle grates a nice little pile of Parmesan shavings onto the pasta and departs.

“Oh I am so ready to dig into this,” Ephemer says, unwrapping his fork from the napkin and scooping some of the nearest pasta onto his plate.

“Skuld, what are these little green things?” you ask, patting Ephemer’s arm so he can pass you a plate as well. 

She inspects it for a moment. They’re about the size of peas but darker and a bit more leafy-looking. “Ohh these are the capers,” she explains, and pops one into her mouth. “Yeah. They’re like tiny flower buds.”

“Huh. I don’t know if I’ve ever had them before.” You scoop some of the pasta onto your dish and spear a caper experimentally on your fork before putting it in your mouth. “Hmm. Kinda salty? It’s good though.”

Skuld nods. “It goes well with the salmon.”

“Gonna try some of the no-chee?” you tease, gesturing to the other pasta plate.

“Yes I find I’m rather fond of no-chee,” she laughs and helps herself to the gnocchi. Ephemer makes a pouty face at the two of you but says nothing, his mouth full of pasta. 

You take a sip of your strawberry milkshake – nearly done – and scoop some of the gnocchi out onto your plate as well. The hazelnuts give it a pleasant, earthy flavour along with the sweet potatoes. It’s a nice combination. “Good pick, Ephemer,” you say after swallowing your mouthful. “Might have to try making this sometime.”

“I might not know how to pronounce it, but I can still appreciate good food,” he says with a grin. 

“Oh hang on, there’s a plate of garlic bread here, too,” Skuld says, moving the pasta dishes aside to put the plate in the center of the table. “Aw and there are three pieces even though we just got the two pastas, that’s nice. Okay, everyone gets one.”

The garlic bread seems to have been made from a rounded bun of sorts, and it’s wonderfully crispy on the flat side but fluffy and soft on the rounded side. “I might have to just order a basket of garlic bread the next time I come here,” you say after you’ve devoured your piece. “That was _excellent._ ”

Skuld drags her straw around the edge of her glass to get the last of her milkshake. “I think all the food we’ve had has been excellent. I’d come back.”

“I’d like that,” Ephemer says after swallowing a mouthful of food. “I mean, I just like eating food with you guys.”

“Is it because you don’t want to cook for yourself?” Skuld teases.

“No! I just like having familiar things.” This isn’t a particularly surprising sentiment coming from the boy who’d eaten the exact same flavour of ice cream with you day in and day out for nearly a year. 

“Maybe we should try different places each time,” you offer. “You know. In case we find other foods we really like.”

Ephemer falls silent as he considers this but Skuld nods. “I like that. And then if we have a favourite place we can always come back to it.” She looks to Ephemer for agreement.

“Yeah… okay. When would we go? Once a week?”

Skuld shakes her head in surprise, glancing at Ephemer. “I don’t know if either of us can consistently set aside that kind of time. Maybe every three weeks? We can always try to get together on the off weeks, obviously. We just wouldn’t be going to restaurants.”

You feel a little twinge of sadness at the suggested schedule – surely Skuld and Ephemer will be seeing each other a lot more often than you’ll be seeing them in between meetups – but… well, any time you can hang out with them is good. “That’s all right by me,” you say.

“Great, it’s a plan. Ephemer and I will figure out a day that works best and let you know as soon as we can.”

Unexpectedly, you find yourself trying to avoid their gazes and look down at your plate under the pretense of trying to scoop a hazelnut onto your fork. It’s fine that Skuld and Ephemer have Union leader stuff to do. Obviously. They’ll let you know as soon as they’re free. “Yeah, sure.” The words feel uncomfortable in your tight throat.

Luckily, Skuld doesn’t seem to notice. You chance a glimpse up at her and she’s back to eating the last of her pasta. Ephemer bumps his shoulder against yours and smiles radiantly and you wonder if he noticed your reaction. You do your best to smile back and quickly turn away, picking up your near-empty glass of strawberry milkshake as though you think you can get more ice cream out of it. It’s fine. You’re fine.

“Well, that’s all for me,” Skuld declares, setting down her fork. “Ephemer, you want the last of the gnoc – ahem – the no-chee?”

Ephemer rolls his eyes at her. “Sure, I’ll finish it. You want any more before I take it?” he asks, offering the plate to you. You shake your head and he scoops the last of the gnocchi onto his plate. “Excellent.”

You lean against the back of the booth as well. “I’m full too. That was really yum.”

“I might have to try making gnocchi one of these times,” Skuld says thoughtfully. “I don’t think it would be too hard. Don’t you just cook the potatoes and then add some flour and stuff?”

You shrug. “I’ve never tried. You might have to cook it after you mix everything together, or maybe you can just use it in a dish as soon as you’re done, I’m not sure. I’d want a recipe before I try making it for the first time.”

Ephemer puts down his fork at last with a satisfied sigh, pushing his plate away from himself. “I mean, if you two want to cook no-kee then I wouldn’t complain about trying it.”

“ _Gnocchi_ ,” Skuld corrects offhand, smiling, “and I’m sure you _wouldn’t_ mind eating free food, huh?”

“I’m just saying, I wouldn’t pass it up.”

A Moogle comes by to pick up your dirty dishes. “Can I interest you in any dessert, kupo?”

Ephemer looks longingly at the dessert menu but you and Skuld both shake your heads. “I’m really full, but thank you,” you say.

Ephemer sighs. “Me too. Maybe next time though.”

The Moogle nods. “And how would you like to pay tonight, kupo? All on one bill, or separate?”

“Oh, uhh…”

“One bill is fine,” you interrupt. The Moogle nods and leaves.

“How much do I owe you?” Skuld asks, digging in her bag, but you shake your head.

“Don’t worry about it,” you say. “I’ll get this one. Then we’ll just have to go out again so you guys can pay me back.”

“Are you sure?” Ephemer asks, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, don’t sweat it.”

He slumps back in his seat. “Well, okay then.”

You pat his leg. “It’s my ploy to get you guys to hang out with me more,” you stage-whisper, ostensibly joking but also secretly hoping that they really will make sure you go out at least once more together.

The Moogle comes by with the bill and you hand over some munny, thanking them for the lovely meal. “I guess we should head out,” Skuld says, looking around. “It’s pretty busy so we shouldn’t take up an extra table.”

“Yeah, that’s… of course.” You glance at Ephemer and he slides out of the booth to let you out too. The three of you wind your way around the tables and out onto the streets of Daybreak Town.

“Thanks for the night out, you two,” Skuld says as the restaurant door closes behind you. She pulls on a motorcycle jacket on top of her fancy outfit, making it look more casual, but also somehow more… Skuld. Ephemer rolls down his sleeves but otherwise doesn’t seem as bothered by the cool breeze. Typical.

“This was really nice,” you say, stretching your arms out in front of yourself. “Thanks for coming.”

Unexpectedly, Ephemer pulls the three of you into a hug. “I’m glad things worked out that we could all meet up again,” he says. 

“I… yeah, me too,” you say, wrapping your arms around the two of them. You’re not quite sure if he means he’s glad you could meet up tonight or if he’s grateful that, after all that has happened, despite being separated, the three of you managed to end up in the same world. You're glad for both, in any case.

“Well, I guess we should be off,” Skuld says when you break apart. “Do you want us to walk you home?”

 _Yes._ “No, that’s all right,” you say. “I live in the other direction, anyway. I’ll see you guys soon!”

They smile and wave at you as they turn to walk in the other direction. You walk boldly through the streets, not looking back until you’re sure they must be out of sight, then sit down on the curb on a small side street. “Lucky?” you call tentatively.

Your Spirit companion _poofs_ into existence beside you in the form of the fluffiest pink dog you’ve ever seen. They crawl up into your lap and their pink tongue laps at your chin. “No, no, it’s fine, settle down,” you say, pushing them down. Lucky quivers in your lap, their tiny tail thumping against your knees. You stroke their head softly. “I just needed a hug. And I didn’t want to let Chirithy know. You won’t tell them, will you Lucky?”

Lucky’s pink tongue lolls out of their mouth for a moment as they pant, then they lay their head down on your arm and look up at you with big eyes. You run a hand along their fluffy fur absentmindedly. 

“I just… I think I get jealous of Skuld and Ephemer hanging out? I don’t know if that’s what it is, exactly. I just know I feel upset when I think about them hanging out without me. And I know a lot of it is unavoidable – obviously they’re both Union leaders, so they’re going to see each other around the tower and have Union leader meetings and stuff. So it’s stupid to get upset over it. Right? I feel like I’m just bringing the mood down because I want to spend time with them, too.”

Lucky’s quiet in your lap and you continue to stroke their fur. “I don’t want them to feel bad, either. I know they already feel bad enough for keeping things from me about the Keyblade War and all that. And I really, really want things to go back to normal.” You sigh deeply and Lucky’s tail starts to wag again. “Yeah, okay, we can go home,” you say, ushering them off your lap. Their shape changes to that of a little wolf, like they want to protect you as you walk home. You reach down and pat them between the ears. “Thanks.”

* * *

Ephemer turns to look back at you as he and Skuld walk in the other direction towards the tower, but you’re already partway down the street, confidently strolling away. “Did you think… did you think Peach seemed a bit troubled back there?” he asks.

“Just now, you mean?” Skuld asks, turning to him in surprise. “No, not really. Did you?”

He shrugs. “I dunno. I just thought they seemed a bit sad about something.”

“Well, we can ask the next time we all get together. Make sure they’re all right.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I hope we’re not too busy this week.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I actually wrote this way before COVID (like ~Nov 2019) but reading over how Player hasn't been to a restaurant in ages got more relevant as time went on, I guess :P
> 
> Anyway, welcome back for 2021! This is the first of two "mini series" I will be uploading over the next several weeks. They were originally intended to be part of Colors of the Sunrise at some point, but I'm not really sure how to fit them in since we don't even know where canon is going, so I've decided to just upload them as-is. Each has its own story arc and borrows from the characterization and general circumstances of CotS and SotS. Unlike CotS and SotS, however, I'm currently planning on a bi-weekly upload schedule (every other Tuesday), since there are a couple of parts I want to fill in better and my schedule is overall busier in 2021. 
> 
> I think perhaps _because_ it doesn't really fit into canon, I had a lot of fun writing them and they include some of my favourite moments with these characters. I'm really excited to share it! I'd love to hear your thoughts, either in a comment or feel free to send me a message at [theworldthatneverwas.tumblr.com](https://theworldthatneverwas.tumblr.com). Thanks so much for reading!


	2. Work to Do

You head down to the market to pick up a few ingredients for supper before you return home. It’s when you’re standing at a vegetable stall, studying a selection of tomatoes, that you notice a familiar shock of messy blond hair at the neighbouring stall.

“Ven! What are you doing here?” you ask after exchanging some munny for two fresh tomatoes.

“Oh! I didn’t think I’d see you at the market,” Ven says, a wide grin lighting up his face. “Are you coming back to the tower soon?”

A little caught off-guard, you find yourself unexpectedly avoiding his gaze. “Oh, um. Well I mean, I’m pretty busy with missions these days. But I’d like to come by again when you and the other leaders have time.”

“That would be great! You should bring more of your cooking. I remember when Skuld brought the little dumpling things you made a while back. So yum!"

"Oh, the gyoza?" You smile. "I'm glad you liked it. I don't know if it would be okay for me to just pop in to drop food off, so you might be out of luck there, but I could give you the recipe." 

"Aw, but I'm sure it's tastier when you make it. Plus Ephemer and Skuld are a lot more cheerful when you’re around. Even Brain seems happier because he has someone to impress with all his technical talk.” His eyes are wide and happy as he talks. “Oh, and Lauriam too! He thinks you’re a good influence.”

“That’s… really sweet of you to say Ven, thank you.” You adjust your bag on your arm. “How are things with the others?”

Ven pushes his lips out in a pout. “It’s… okay. Lauriam’s been pretty down since he doesn’t have any news on his sister. And Brain’s cranky about all this data world stuff. Ephemer and Skuld have been looking into some of the glitches we saw in the tower a while ago so they always seem to have things to do. I’m keeping track of how the new PvP stuff is going. So everyone’s busy, I guess.”

“That sounds about right,” you say with a sigh, then stop yourself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so upset! I know it’s important work, and I’m glad everyone is working hard. But… it sounds maybe like everyone is a little  _ too _ busy, you know? I hope we can take a break again.”

“Me too!” His earnestness makes you smile a little. It’s nice to know you’re not alone in wanting your friends to relax a bit so you can all hang out again. “Hey uh, since you’re here actually… Lauriam gave me this shopping list to stock up the kitchen again but I don’t know where to find some of these things. Do you think you could help?”

You nod happily. “Sure. What do you need?”

Ventus hands over a lengthy list written in a loopy cursive hand. It turns out that Lauriam has provided a very thorough shopping list, including everything from baking essentials like flour and sugar to particular quantities of various fruits and vegetables. 

"Do you usually need this many ingredients?" you ask Ven after scanning the list, flipping it over to see that there are even  _ more _ items on the backside.

He scratches at the back of his head. "Umm I'm not sure? I don't normally do the grocery shopping."

You laugh a little under your breath. "All right, well, we'd better get started or we won't finish this before everyone closes up shop. Do you want to carry everything or take care of paying?" Ven opens his mouth to reply but you continue before he gets a chance to, "Actually, I'll carry it so that you remember where to find everything and how much it costs. Sound good?"

He pouts a little at the choice being taken away, but perks up again with a shrug. "Yeah, okay." 

You hold out your hand expectantly for his bag of purchases to inspect its contents. "Okay, so you should be checking this stuff off the list. You've got… looks like the apples and bananas… and lemons." Ven scans Lauriam's long list and checks off the items you mention. "Great! We'll pick up the rest of the fruits and veggies while we're in this area, then."

Ven is eager to please as the two of you go from stall to stall picking up items, though he does get easily distracted by the places selling sweets and interesting trinkets that are definitely  _ not _ on the grocery list. It would almost certainly have been easier to make him carry the bags while you handled the purchases, but hopefully this is a useful experience for him. You don't think you've ever bought this many groceries at once, you realize as the bags you're carrying grow steadily heavier. You even planned to pick up the heaviest items like flour and sugar last and you're starting to dread the weight they'll add to your bags. If Skuld was here, she might know how to do some sort of zero gravity spell to make it easier, but you're worried if you mess it up that everything will go flying.

"What's this for?" Ven asks you, picking up a tiny bottle of vanilla extract at the stall you've stopped at. 

"It's used in baking. Gives food a nice vanilla flavour."

He wrinkles his nose as he looks at the price. "Why does it cost so much? It's so small!"

You shrug, setting down your bags on the cobblestone street and rolling your shoulders to get rid of the tension. "You only need a little for each recipe. It's probably hard to extract it or something so it's more expensive. Did Lauriam say what size he needs?"

Ven scans the list. "No, it just says 'vanilla'."

"All right, well, get the medium sized one, then."

Ven pays for the purchase and adds it to your bag. "Do  _ you _ bake a lot? Like cakes and stuff?"

You take a moment to brace yourself before you pick up the bags again and lead Ven to the next stall. "Not really. You have to be pretty precise when baking. You can be a lot more inventive with what ingredients you use when cooking, though. And a lot of baking recipes make more food than I can eat on my own."

"Then you should bring some to the tower! That way you won't have too much." He seems to realize something and backpedals a bit. "I mean, I could help buy ingredients so you're not doing all the work, it's just Skuld doesn't trust me in the kitchen, so…"

You recall Skuld mentioning something about Ven's cooking skills, or lack thereof. "I dunno, I'm sure we could find something you could help with." Your conversation earlier at the restaurant with your friends comes to mind. "We were actually talking about maybe having a potluck? Me, Skuld, and Ephemer, I mean. With you and the rest of the leaders."

Ven looks positively delighted at the idea. "That sounds great! When is it?"

You find yourself awkwardly looking away. "We haven't decided anything yet. Would that be all right, though, if I came to the tower again for that? When everyone's not so busy, I mean."

He seems bewildered you'd even ask. "Yeah, of course." You can see him glancing at you sideways as you walk and you continue to avoid his gaze. "Is something up?" He slows his pace but you press ahead, gesturing to the stall that's your next destination. If even  _ Ventus _ can tell that something is up, then you must really be doing a terrible job at sorting out your feelings on the matter.

"I just thought, that it might be…" you begin, gesturing to the sky with the heavy bags weighing down your elbows, "um, like I know I'm not a Union leader so it's all right if you don't have time or if I'm not supposed to be around the tower unless I have official business, and everyone seems to be busy so I don't want to interfere with your leader duties or anything." You stop in front of the stall to face Ven with your best  _ please don't worry about me _ smile. "I just didn't want to make it awkward if you had to tell me 'no'." 

"Oh, okay. I guess you're right; I don't know what the other leaders want to do so I probably shouldn't decide anything myself. But," he says, blue eyes sparkling, "I'd love to have you around for a potluck! The sooner the better, if you ask me."

That makes you smile a little. "Thanks, Ven. Alright, this is our last stop; time for the flour and sugar. This one you get to carry."

"Got it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter little chapter where Player finally gets to hang out a bit with Ven! Since he's at most 12 or so during the KHUx days (and more likely 10-11), I imagine he gets babied a bit by the other (older) Union leaders. Not that any of them should have to take on parental roles at their age, though age and parents in KH is kind of an odd topic. I figure Lauriam is probably the oldest, followed by Brain, Ephemer and Skuld, and finally Ven. Strelitzia is probably around Ephemer and Skuld's age as well.
> 
> Anway, we're coming up on what might be one of my favourite chapters overall (and I think it's one of longest chapters of all my KHUx fics, actually, beaten only by the second-last chapter of Sound of the Sunset). I hope you look forward to it! Thank you for reading :)


	3. Inseparable

“Can I put the soup here?” you ask, motioning towards a clear spot on the table.

“Umm, yeah that’s fine,” Skuld says distractedly, glancing over. “Wait, you need a way to plug that in, right? Hang on.” She sets down her oven mitts and walks over. “How about we put it on the counter here, and then you can plug it in so it stays warm.”

You do as she says, plugging in your slow cooker and turning it on to its lowest setting so the soup inside stays nice and warm until everyone gets to eat. You’d made butternut squash soup for the potluck – a bit of an unusual choice, but you thought it would make a nice appetiser or a complement to a bigger meal. It's the first time you’ve handled a butternut squash, though, and it was a lot heavier than you’d expected. You’re not really sure how much you’d thought it would weigh, but it weighed decidedly more than that. The soup had turned out well enough, though, and you're anxious to see if it will be well-received.

“Here, come take a look at this,” Skuld says, opening the oven door so you can peek inside. “Does this look done yet?”

“Hmm, I’d wait until the cheese is a little more browned on top.” She closes the oven door again and checks the time, chewing on the inside of her cheek, and you put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine, Skuld; I know it’ll be tasty. We have plenty of time.”

“I know,” she says with a sigh. “I’m just nervous to make food for so many more people than usual.”

Ephemer comes into the kitchen just then, face a little flushed from being outside. “Okay, I brought the napkins,” he says, depositing them on the counter. “Should I set the table?”

“Yeah, I’ll help,” you say, eager to have something to do. You pass Ephemer some plates and Skuld shows you where the utensils are. 

“Maybe we could wrap the utensils up in the napkins?” Ephemer suggests after he’s put the plates down. “Like a restaurant.”

You raise an eyebrow, a bit surprised that the suggestion came from him, but nod. “Sure. Have some forks.”

The two of you work diligently for a few minutes, rolling each person a set of utensils and placing it on their plate. “Do you guys have any fancy glasses?” you ask Ephemer, taking inventory of your place settings. 

“Uhhh I think we have like four of one type of glass and then there are two long glasses. We could put those on the ends.”

You shrug. “Yeah, all right.” The table is starting to look pretty nice with the place settings already. “Oh, and we need bowls for the soup.”

“Skuld, do you mind if I put this here?” an unfamiliar voice asks from the kitchen. You look up to see Lauriam walk over to Skuld, carrying a pot.

“Oh, sure,” she says, a little distracted. “Do you need to cook it yet?”

“Just blanch it,” he says, “and then I’ll mix the dish together. Let me know if I’m in your way.”

“No no, I’m just checking my lasagna. Go ahead.”

“What are Brain and Ven bringing?” you ask Ephemer as you set bowls by everyone’s dish. 

“Ven’s in charge of drinks,” Ephemer says. “Brain I’m not sure.”

“Did I hear someone call my name?” Ventus’s smiling face appears in the doorway to the kitchen, lugging a bag of something in with him.

“Hey, Ven,” Ephemer says cheerily. “You brought drinks?”

“I did! I told you I could be responsible.” Ven notices you behind Ephemer and waves. “Hi! Nice to see you again.”

“Yeah, you too, Ven. How are things?”

He shrugs and sets down his bag on the table. leaning against the back of one of the chairs. “Oh, good. Busy. I figured out a new fighting move with my keyblade. Remember when we fought off those darkling things and I threw my keyblade at one of them? I’ve been trying some more things out like that, and I’m getting really good at summoning my keyblade back quickly after it hits something.”

You smile. “That sounds neat.”

Ephemer looks up from the bag Ventus brought, one eyebrow raised. “Did you  _ only _ buy chocolate milk, Ven?”

“Hmm?” he says, turning. “Yeah. Is that all right?”

Ephemer chuckles. “Yeah that’s fine. I’ll make sure we have a pitcher of water just in case, though.” He goes over to where Skuld and Lauriam are to search through the cupboards.

“I love chocolate milk,” Ven says happily. He looks around at the kitchen area and sniffs the air a bit. “It smells really good in here. Do you think we could do this more often?”

You smile. “You’d probably have to actually cook things on occasion if we do it more often.”

“I wasn’t the one who asked to be put on drink duty!” he says, indignant. “Skuld and Lauriam get upset at me when I’m in the kitchen so I don’t make food much.”

“He thought he could put a pizza in the oven at twice the temperature for half the time and it would cook faster,” Skuld calls from the kitchen. “I swear he nearly burned the whole tower down.”

“Okay so it got a  _ little _ smoky,” Ventus concedes, his cheeks going pink. “I’ll learn! If you let me!”

“I mean, he’s not going to get any better if you guys shoo him out of the kitchen,” you agree, and Ven grins at you.

“See?” he says, but Skuld is distracted as she takes her giant lasagna pan out of the oven, maneuvering carefully around Lauriam so she can set it on the stovetop out of the way of his pot. You come over to inspect it, passing by Ephemer as he returns to the table with a pitcher of water and ice.

“Oh, that’s much better,” you say to Skuld, noting the bubbly brown edges of the cheese. “I think it’s perfect.”

Lauriam smiles as he stirs his pot. “You two seem to be quite the cooks,” he says.

Skuld shakes her head. “I owe it to you,” she says, gesturing at you. She turns to Lauriam. “We used to get together after missions and cook together. I learned a lot through that.”

You blush and motion to Lauriam’s pot in the hopes of directing his gaze off of you. “So, what are you making?”

He removes the lid so you and Skuld can peer inside. “It’s a green bean dish,” he says, turning off the burner and sliding his pot away from the heat. “I’m just blanching the beans, and then I’ve got a couple of ingredients here to mix it with, like pine nuts and feta cheese. It’s important to have some greens with a full meal.”

“You made soup, didn’t you?” Skuld asks you, looking over at your slow cooker.

You nod. “Yeah. Butternut squash.”

Lauriam smiles warmly at you. “Excellent choice. I used to make that on occasion for…” He suddenly seems to catch himself and continues, “...I used to make it from time to time.” You wonder if he was going to bring up his sister and feel a twinge of guilt that you haven’t been able to help him find her. It must be awful, not knowing what happened.

“Um, Skuld, can I get you something to serve the lasagna with? Do you have anything good for scooping?”

“Oh, yeah, one second.” She digs through a drawer, shuffling aside spatulas and whisks until she finds a suitable utensil and hands it to you. “Can you make sure there’s a spot to put this on the table?”

“Yeah of course,” you say, rushing ahead of her to the table and moving Ephemer’s water pitcher aside so you can stack a few dish towels for the lasagna to be set on top of.

It smells lovely. You take inventory of the food – Skuld’s lasagna, check; Lauriam’s bean salad, check; Ven’s chocolate milk, check… you should put your soup on the table too if you’re just about ready to eat. “Ephemer,” you say after you’re done mentally matching everyone to their foods, “did you bring something? Does it need to go on the table?”

“Oh, it’s in the fridge,” he says, and you’re surprised to see his cheeks are a little pink. “It’s a dessert though, so we’ll take it out after we’re done eating.”

You tilt your head, a small, curious smile coming to your lips. “Wow, look at you, making dessert,” you tease.

Ephemer tries to look indignant. “You two won’t be able to tease me about not being good in the kitchen after this.” 

“Oh, I dunno if it’ll ever get old. Here, help me find a bowl for my soup so we can pass it around.”

“Ven, I know you wanna help, but the kitchen’s full enough as it is,” you hear Skuld saying as you return to the kitchen.

“Hey, has anyone seen Brain yet?” Ephemer asks, looking around.

“Oh! That’s a good idea,” Skuld says. “Ven, why don’t you go find Brain? Tell him we’re just about to eat.”

Looking a little grumpy about being shooed out of the kitchen, Ventus nevertheless complies and heads out. Ephemer finds you a pretty serving bowl and you dig up a ladle from the same drawer Skuld was sifting through earlier, then have Ephemer hold the bowl over by your slow cooker so you can ladle the soup into the new bowl.

Lauriam finishes mixing up his bean salad and leaves to go put it on the table as well. Skuld comes over to you and Ephemer, looking a little flushed from all the activity. “Is everything all right here? Oh, I wish Brain had come by earlier. I don’t even know what he’s bringing; I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

You replace the lid on the remainder of your soup and grab a nearby cloth to wipe up some of the drops down the side of the bowl Ephemer’s holding. “Yeah, we’re good. Let’s take this over to the table and figure out where we’re sitting.”

Just as you set down the soup, the door opens and Ven re-enters with a rather disgruntled-looking Brain, who’s carrying a rectangular container. Ven carries a similar container, though smaller. Skuld holds out her hands to take Brain’s container but he shakes his head and pushes past her, storing both containers in the fridge. You’re immensely curious to find out what’s inside but Brain doesn’t offer up any explanations so you assume it must be some kind of dessert as well. 

“Apologies for the lateness,” he says when he returns to the dining room, leaning against one of the chairs. “I guess we’ll be starting, then?”

“Er, yes,” Skuld says, a little flustered. “Go ahead and sit down.”

Ventus hurries to claim one of the end chairs and you end up between him and Lauriam, with Skuld across from you and Ephemer across from Ven. You all sit and pause for a moment as though perhaps expecting someone to speak, but then Ephemer says, “Well, dig in everyone,” and the awkwardness is broken. Ven makes a beeline for the chocolate milk, pouring some into his glass.

Lauriam, who’s closest to the soup, offers to fill your bowl and you pass it to him feeling a little like you’re having an unusual family dinner. Skuld starts sectioning off lasagna pieces and gives one to Ven first before helping herself. Lauriam’s bean salad gets passed around and there’s a flurry of activity as Skuld returns to the kitchen to fetch some salt and pepper and Ephemer spills a bit of water on his lap but laughs it off and at last everyone has some food and you’re digging in heartily.

“Your salad is really good,” you tell Lauriam, hoping to make polite conversation with him. 

“Oh, it’s nothing special,” he says. “It doesn’t take long to make. You and Skuld deserve the most accolades for taking care of the hearty part of the meal.”

You find your face growing a bit warm. “I… well, it’s just soup. But thank you. Skuld did a great job with the lasagna.”

“I think it was a lovely idea to get together for a meal. It’s always nice to try someone else’s cooking.”

“I agree!” Ven says enthusiastically, refilling his glass with more chocolate milk. “You guys are really good cooks. I have a lot to learn!” 

You smile at him. “Well, maybe next time you’re free we can start with some simpler dishes, like macaroni and cheese.”

“That sounds good to me,” he says, putting a forkful of lasagna in his mouth. 

Across from you, Skuld shakes her head. “You get to take responsibility when the tower burns down,” she says.

Ventus pouts. “She won’t even give me a chance since the pizza thing. I’m learning! I’ve just never really had to cook before.”

“It’ll probably take a while to change Skuld’s mind,” you tell him, grinning. “She’s pretty stubborn.”

“I think it’d be a nice change of pace if Ventus could cook,” Lauriam says, passing you a serving dish. “More soup?”

“Oh, maybe a bit more,” you say, putting another ladleful in your bowl and passing the serving bowl along. After the dish gets to Skuld it takes her a moment to get Brain’s attention, as he seems to be engaged in an intense discussion with Ephemer. Brain scrapes at the bottom of the dish to put some more soup in his bowl, and you exchange a smile with Skuld, remembering how she’d mentioned she’d never seen him eat.

“No, I don’t think that can be true,” Ephemer is saying to Brain. “If it was, then what would be the difference between real worlds and data worlds? Why would we even have the term ‘data worlds’?”

“Why indeed?” Brain asks, picking up his bowl of soup so he can lean back in his chair and eat. “We’ve already figured out it’s near impossible to tell a data world from the real world. Wouldn’t that mean it’s more like a parallel universe than a world made of data?”

“But…” Ephemer lowers his fork, thinking, “somebody  _ made _ the data worlds. Out of data. They had to collect that information and program it in. Are you saying that the real world might be the same? Like it might be predetermined by some higher force that made it?”

Brain shrugs and sets his bowl back down on the table. “Who can say? But we know that there’s a Book of Prophecies that can predict the future. Wouldn’t that suggest the existence of some way to read the system and extrapolate future events?”

Ephemer rests his hand on his chin, looking wide-eyed down at the bit of bean salad on his fork. “I can’t think this hard over dinner,” he says with a small chuckle.

“Aw, don’t turn the potluck into another leader meeting, Brain,” Skuld says, passing around the last of Lauriam’s salad. “If I don’t have a good leader-life balance I’ll go crazy.” She offers the beans to Ven. “Want some more?”

“No, I’m saving room for dessert,” he declares.

“You sure? You should make sure you have a few vegetables…”

“I did! I just don’t want to be full before dessert.”

Skuld forks a couple of beans onto his plate anyway over Ven’s protests and passes the dish across the table to you. After debating a moment you take just the tiniest amount more – it has a pleasant lemony sort of taste. You’ll have to get the exact recipe from Lauriam afterwards.

At last it seems everyone has filled up, and you rise from your seat to help Skuld clear away the plates. As you carefully stack the dishes in the sink, Skuld opens the fridge to pull out the desserts. “I wonder what the boys made,” she says, pulling out the containers Brain brought as well as a glass pan with a bright red lid that must be Ephemer’s contribution. She peers through the glass. “Oh, it’s cheesecake!”

“Oh yum,” you say. “What kind?”

She sets it down on the counter to take off the lid. “Looks like no-bake cherry cheesecake,” she says. She peers at the contents of the container. “I think he made it himself, actually, cherry topping and all. I might have to re-evaluate my opinion of his kitchen skills after all.”

“Well that’s a pleasant surprise,” you chuckle, searching through the cupboard for smaller plates you’ll be able to serve the cheesecake on. “What did Brain bring?”

She pushes Ephemer’s cheesecake further back on the counter to make room for the larger of Brain’s containers, pulling the lid off. “Oh these are…” she picks one up and you look over. “What do you call these? Macaroons?”

You come over to investigate. “Oh! Close, these are macarons. Wow, they’re really nice. Macarons are a nightmare to make. Do you think he made them himself?”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen any shops sell them around here,” Skuld says, peering at the tiny pink cookies. They look like perfect puffy sandwiches. “I don’t even have the first clue where you’d start with making these. But I can’t imagine  _ Brain _ of all people spending hours baking.”

You pick up one of the macarons yourself, then look over the container. “I… don’t know. I don’t even remember the last time I ate a macaron. I guess we can just ask.”

Skuld shrugs and grabs a large plate to stack the fancy little cookies on. “How many should I put on here? Two for everyone? Maybe a few extras”

“Yeah, that sounds fine. I’ll follow you out with the cheesecake.”

The two of you return to the dining area. Ephemer looks a bit anxious as you set his cheesecake down in the middle of the table. You come up behind him and ruffle his hair a little. “You did good on the dessert, sunshine,” you tease, and his face turns a touch pink with pleasure at the compliment. 

“What are these?” Ven asks, reaching forward to grab one of the macarons off the plate. “Cookies?” 

“Macarons,” Brain corrects off-hand. 

“Oh how delightful,” Lauriam says, helping himself to one as well. “Did you make these yourself, Brain?”

Unusually, Brain seems to be pointedly staring away from anyone’s gaze at the table. “Nah. Bought ‘em.”

“Oh? I haven’t been able to find any bakeries around here that sell them. What’s the name of the shop?” Lauriam’s tone is pleasant but Brain seems uncomfortable with the question.

He shrugs. “Don’t remember. Doesn’t matter, really. You guys gonna start eating the cheesecake?”

You and Skuld exchange a glance once again, thinking of your conversation in the kitchen. Macarons are notoriously finicky to make. Would he really have put in all that time and effort?  _ Brain? _ It seems you’ll have to re-evaluate your opinion of him, too.

Ephemer helps cut into his cheesecake and gives everyone a slice. It’s quite tasty – the fluffy cream cheese in the middle is a little runnier than it should be so it’s a bit tricky to get on the plates, but the flavour more than makes up for it.

Brain’s macarons, homemade or not, are wonderful. They’re ever so slightly crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. You can’t imagine how much work it would take to get this delicate combination of textures. Brain continues to deflect questions about the sweets, feeding your suspicions that he may have really made them himself. He ropes Ephemer into a conversation about data worlds again and you find yourself too lost to be able to join in, but the other three are having a conversation that seems to be about the Spirit companions like Lucky and you feel too out of place to join that conversation, either. 

You drum your fingers against your leg for a moment before standing up and murmuring something about putting Ephemer’s cheesecake back in the fridge and escaping out to the kitchen, but it’s noisy in here too with the sounds of the conversations drifting in. You debate with yourself for a moment before leaving and wandering down the hallway, peering at the various rooms off the main path. One door leads out onto a balcony on the outside of the clock tower, but facing the opposite direction of the balcony in Ephemer’s room. It’s kind of small and seems less for sitting and enjoying the view so much as simply letting a breeze in by opening the door, but you close the door behind you and lean against the railing, inspecting the town below for familiar paths.

* * *

It takes Ephemer a little longer than he’d like to admit to realize that you’re no longer at the table with the rest of them. He’d seen you get up to take his cheesecake back to the kitchen… that had been a little while ago, though. He extracts himself from his conversation with Brain and wanders into the kitchen, but you’re not here, either. Hmm. A short walk down the hallway later and he suddenly spies your familiar silhouette leaning against the tiny balcony on the outside of the clock tower. He pauses for a moment, wondering if you might want to be alone. But, well, you all said you'd communicate better. It would be good to ask, at least. 

“Hey,” Ephemer says quietly as he steps out onto the balcony. “Party too noisy?”

“Oh,” you say, turning to glance at him before looking out at the horizon again. “Hi, Ephemer. Yeah, something like that.”

He comes up beside you and rests his forearms on the railing, leaning forward. “You wanna talk about it?”

“Huh? No, I’m fine. I’ll go back inside in a bit.” You gesture at the view in front of you. “You just missed the sunset.”

He can tell you’re trying to change the topic, which makes him even more sure that there really  _ is _ something you’re hiding from him. “Too bad,” he says. “I miss getting ice cream and watching the sunset with you.”

You look down at your hands. “Yeah, me too.” The silence stretches out for a while longer. “You know, Ephemer I…” you start to speak, looking over at him, and then seem to change your mind and look down at your hands again with a smile that’s only on your lips and not in your eyes. “Nah, it’s fine.”

“Are the others being too overbearing?” Ephemer prompts, hoping that perhaps if he asks the right question you might be more willing to tell him what’s on your mind. Something is clearly bothering you; he’s just not sure what. “I know Ven can ask a lot of questions.”

“No, they all seem lovely. I guess I just feel… kind of out of place. I’m the only one who’s not a Union leader and I wonder if I’m making the others uncomfortable.”

Ephemer frowns, drawing his head back in surprise. “No, not at all! Even Lauriam told me he'd like to have you back to the tower and I’ve never heard him say that about anyone. I saw Brain take seconds of the soup you brought so I doubt he’d complain about having you back. And Ven likes everyone.”

You twist your hands around each other and sigh. "You're right; I'm being silly."

"Ah, no, that's not what I meant. It's okay to feel nervous around new people. I know you want to make a good impression." 

"That's true. I guess… well I'd actually been thinking… I mean it's not just feeling out of place. I think I'm jealous of the fact that you guys get to spend a lot of time together. I know it's not all fun and games and a lot of it is hard work. But sometimes I just get caught up feeling like I'm the last one to be let in on the things that are happening. And it's not because you guys don't want to tell me or because I'm the last person you think to tell. And I _ know _ that, I do, and I know it's unavoidable that I find out things after you and Skuld do but I whenever it comes up and I know you two have already had time to discuss things I just feel mixed up and upset and I wish I didn't."

It's a little overwhelming hearing this all at once but Ephemer understands at the very least that you're feeling excluded and he wraps an arm around your back to pull you into a hug. It's funny - he hadn't really thought about it until now, but he's actually grown a little bit taller than you. Your chin is just the right height to rest on his shoulder.

"Sorry," you mumble into his shirt, and he holds you tighter. 

"No, it's okay. Maybe once the potluck is over the three of us can sit down and talk about this more."

You shake your head. "No, it's something I need to figure out. There's no point in upsetting Skuld, too." 

Ephemer pulls back slightly from the hug so he can look at your face. "That's not true," he says firmly. "We said we were gonna communicate better now that we're all together again, and that includes telling us if you're feeling left out. We'll figure out something that works for all of us."

You give him a grateful smile. "Well, okay. Don't tell her until after the potluck is over though." 

Ephemer nods. "Deal. Now, are you feeling up to heading back for a bit?" 

“Yeah.” You reach for his hand and he gives yours a reassuring squeeze. “Thanks, Ephemer.”

* * *

The kitchen is packed with people as everyone cleans up the mess made from supper. Well, almost everyone – Brain and Ven seem to have slunk off in order to avoid doing dishes, but you, Skuld, Ephemer, and Lauriam all help wash off the dirty dishes and form a sort of assembly line to get everything done. You wash, Ephemer dries, and Lauriam replaces the dishes in the cupboards. Skuld rounds up the remaining plates and finds smaller containers for the leftover food (of which there is very little).

“Well, this ought to feed Ven for a day or two,” Skuld says after snapping the lid on a container. 

“Your friend has a point about getting him in the kitchen more often,” Lauriam says, turning to her. “Hunger can be a good motivator for getting people to cook.”

“You guys all make me out to be some sort of big bad obstacle in the way of Ven’s budding chef skill,” she complains. “If he wants to cook, he can cook, I’m just worried about the state of the kitchen afterwards. And who’s going to monitor him so he doesn’t burn anything?”

“Well, one of us would have to be in the kitchen regardless to make food for him,” Lauriam points out. 

“Ugh, I know. Just… what if he cuts himself, or leaves a plastic ladle on a hot stove, or uses metal spoons in the nonstick pans…” She shudders. 

“We can pitch in to replace anything he destroys,” Ephemer says comfortingly.

“And we’ll start him with easier things so he can get used to cooking,” Lauriam agrees.

Skuld puts her hands up in surrender. “I know! Consider me convinced. We’ll put him on weekly cooking duty or something.”

You wipe some of the soap bubbles off of your hands and glance around. “Are there any more dishes to wash?”

Skuld glances around too and hands you the fork she’d been using to portion out a small meal for later in the week. “Think that’s it,” she says. “Thanks for sticking around.”

Lauriam nods to the three of you. “That was an excellent meal. I think I’ll be turning in for the night, then.”

You pull the drain on the sink and dry your hands on Ephemer’s towel. “It was good talking with you again,” you say to Lauriam before he leaves.

He nods. “You as well. Good night, everyone!”

Ephemer folds up his towel and hangs it off the oven door handle while Skuld looks around the kitchen once more to be sure everything is cleaned up. “Well, I guess that’s all,” she says. She turns to you. “Will you stay a bit longer, or should you be heading home soon?”

“Um…” You glance at Ephemer a bit nervously and he jumps to your rescue.

“Why don’t we all hang out in my room for a little bit, and then I’ll walk you home?” he says, and you nod.

* * *

It’s nice having time to unwind with friends like this, Skuld thinks as the three of you sit on Ephemer’s bed. She’s leaning against your knees as you gently gather half of her hair into a braid. Ephemer holds the other half and attempts to copy what you’re doing, but even Skuld can tell he’s rather lost. His half of hair feels very loose comparatively. 

“No, no,” you say, abandoning your half of Skuld’s hair and holding Ephemer’s hands just so. “Hold it like this, with some of the strands between these fingers, and then you can pass it over to your other hand like this. See?”

Ephemer is quiet with concentration as he pulls gently at Skuld’s hair. You reach over and rub her shoulder gently. “Hope he’s not being too rough,” you chuckle.

“Nah, it’s okay. Soon he’ll be an expert at braiding, huh Eph?”

Ephemer is quiet though, attempting to fold the strands over one another like you did and coming up short. “Wait, I’m lost,” he says. “Which one do I put over the middle?”

“This one, see? You can tell the other two were just crossed over earlier so this one has to go over the middle next.”

“Okay. Show me how you hold your hands again, that thing you do with your ring finger.”

Skuld smiles to herself, fiddling with the little star stud on her ear. After some time and light shared conversation, Ephemer finally ties off her hair and lets it fall to her side.

“Done!” he declares proudly. “My first ever braid.”

Skuld feels along the strands. It’s definitely a lot looser than the braid you’d completed in about an eighth of the time on the other side of her head, but it’s not terrible. There are a few awkward strands sticking out but Skuld’s hair is long and smooth enough that it’s not too bad to look at. She leans forward and stretches, letting you adjust your legs into a more comfortable position, then turns and leans back against her hand to face you and Ephemer. 

“You did good,” she says, tossing her head a little so that the braids settle over her shoulders. “How do I look?”

You grin. “A little lop-sided, but I’m proud of you too, sunshine.” You ruffle Ephemer's hair affectionately. “Your hair should be a little curly tomorrow," you say to Skuld. 

“Wait, really?” Ephemer asks, wide-eyed. 

“Yeah, if you sleep with it in braids it’ll usually be a bit wavy the next day. Skuld’s hair is pretty straight so it won’t be really obvious, not like your curls, but it’ll be a little wavy at least.”

“Oh, neat,” he says, leaning back on his hands as well. There's a lull in the conversation and he turns to you and tilts his head as though he’s asking a question and, unexpectedly, you purse your lips and look almost embarrassed. “It’s important,” he says, as though encouraging you.

Skuld’s eyebrows draw together. Did she miss something?

After a moment, you sigh. “I know,” you say. You look up at Skuld and then, seeming to find this too difficult, look down at the mattress, arms wrapped around your knees. “So lately I’ve been feeling…” You bite your lip and take a moment to figure out the words. “...jealous about the time you and Ephemer get to spend together. Not like hanging out without me, just… that you two are Union leaders and I’m not and I always feel like I’m playing catch-up with what’s happening.”

Ephemer shuffles a little closer to you to offer support. “And you said, too, that you felt like we had time to discuss things before we informed you and you wanted to be included in that. Right?”

You nod and lower your legs to the bed again, massaging your palms against your thighs. “And we said we’d communicate better, so I should tell you guys. I know it’s something you can’t really do much about because, well, you both live in this tower since you’re leaders so you see each other more often. I don’t mean to accuse you of making me feel this way! But it’s been on my mind and I worry it’s affecting my mood when we’re together.”

Skuld reaches for your hands and you let her take them. “Thanks for telling us,” she says earnestly, tilting her head to study your expression. Your gaze flicks up to hers and you give a hesitant smile which she returns. “It’s true we end up spending a fair amount of time in the same place because of our leader work. What would you rather have happen?”

“Well no, that’s not… I mean, I think it’s kind of unavoidable that you two spend more time together than you spend with me. I don’t want to turn this into some competition on who’s spent the most time with whom. So long as I can spend some time with both of you now and then, that should be good.”

Skuld looks at Ephemer, thinking. “We should discuss with the other Union leaders how much it’s all right to tell you, but… given the circumstances I imagine they’ll be all right with filling you in on the things we’re doing. Well, Brain might put up a fuss–” Ephemer shrugs in agreement “--but Lauriam and Ven like you. I’m sure that won’t be a problem.

“So then the other issue is just how often we get to see you, right? It’s hard lining up schedules nowadays with your missions and our leader duties. Maybe we could work out a system to check in on each other throughout the day,” Skuld says, leaning back to think.

“What if we sent messages along with your Spirit companion? Lucky?” Ephemer suggests, looking at you.

“You can do that?” you ask doubtfully.

“Yeah! As Union leaders we’re able to call them to us whenever we like, though they might not come immediately if their wielder is in the middle of a fight or something.” Ephemer’s eyes are bright with the idea. “What if we made Lucky a little collar or something we could attach notes to? Just to check in.” He sits up straighter and calls, “Lucky!”

A pink dog appears in the middle of the bed between the two of you and immediately runs up to you, tongue lolling, eagerly licking at your hands. “Shh, shh,” you say, making gentle cooing sounds. “It’s all right.”

Ephemer gets up off the bed and rummages through some of the shelves by the door to the balcony. “I thought I saw a… yeah! This’ll work.” He returns with a tiny spiral-bound notebook in his hand. “We can put a little clip on Lucky’s collar and add a note to it when we want to send a message or check in when one of us is busy. I’ll see if I can find a couple more notebooks so we all have one. What does that sound like?”

You stroke Lucky’s pink head absentmindedly as you think. “I… well I don’t know, really, but I think that would be nice.” You pick up Lucky to reposition them on your lap, shuffling so you’re both more comfortable. “You don’t have to write a novel or anything – just a quick update on what you’re up to and a ‘how are you’ kind of thing. Maybe a couple times a week while we're apart.”

Ephemer looks to Skuld, who nods. “I like that. It’ll keep us all better informed, too. Just send Lucky to us if you’re feeling lonely and we’ll be sure to check in.”

You let Lucky hop off your lap and sniff around the room, then turn to your friends and smile. “Thank you. I really appreciate the both of you. I’m… glad we can have conversations like this.”

“What are friends for?” Skuld asks, reaching forward to pull you and Ephemer into a group hug. She wouldn’t have this group of friends any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Aromantic Awareness week! For those who don't know, it's the first full week following Valentine's Day. I'm really happy to be able to share this chapter this week, as it's one of my absolute favourites. I haven't really discussed it much in my KHUx fics (yet! Stay tuned for the next miniseries once this one is done~), but the #Aromantic tag is there for Ephemer (and optionally you, the Player, too!).
> 
> Writing all the leaders was an absolute delight! Plus we _finally_ get to resolve some of that angst from the earlier chapters.
> 
> Do you have any "kitchen disaster" stories from you or someone you know? The twice-the-temperature-half-the-time pizza story is actually a reference to something a friend of a friend once did (needless to say, the pizza didn't make it out of that unharmed). The other fears Skuld shares about letting Ven loose in the kitchen are things that the people I worked with did when I was working as a line cook in a restaurant. Most of the kitchen staff was good about not scraping the nonstick pans, but sometimes the wait staff would try to scrub pans with the steel wool... yikes :')


	4. Friends

“Ngghh!” 

With a final swing of your keyblade, the Wretched Witch Heartless you’ve been tracking through the forest is vanquished into a smattering of Lux. You’ve been following it the whole day, taking out what felt like dozens of those Poison Apple Heartless it left behind. 

Lucky makes a disgruntled mewling sound, flicking their long black tail back and forth. They’ve chosen the form of a sleek black cat today, which makes them easy to lose track of in the dim lighting of the forest. You glance around, exhausted but unwilling to let your guard down to rest while you’re so deep in the woods.

Chirithy appears with a _poof_ on a tree branch just above your head and you startle, leaping backwards and bringing your keyblade up in front of your body to defend yourself. Lucky’s fur stands on end and they scamper back for a moment before they recognize Chirithy too.

“Whoa, I didn’t mean to spook you!” Chirithy apologizes, noticing the way you have your keyblade raised defensively. You lower it a bit sheepishly and shake your head.

“No, _I’m_ sorry. I think this forest atmosphere is getting to me.”

Chirithy gives a little hop and turns around to get a look at the forest. “Looks like you found the target, huh? Great job!”

Beside you, Lucky climbs deftly up the tree to the branch where Chirithy stands before settling down, their tail flicking back and forth, ears perked and alert. You feel a bit safer knowing your pet is on the lookout.

“Yeah,” you say to Chirithy. “It was a lot of work to track it here. Do you have any more targets for me?”

“Nope! You should take it easy for the rest of the day.”

Your shoulders relax a little at this news. It’ll be a relief to get out of these woods and into the sunlight again. “Okay. I’m going to head back then.” You wave at Lucky to come down from the tree. “C’mon Lucky, we’re going home.”

Chirithy disappears into a white cloud as you open a portal back to Daybreak Town with your keyblade. Lucky zips down the tree and through the portal, clearly also eager to return. The sunlight is warm and comforting on your face as you step into the plaza.

Such nice weather, and yet… it’s a bit lonely, having a day like this and no one to share it with. You look down at Lucky, who’s sitting curled up by the fountain grooming themself. “Hey Lucky,” you say, crouching down to be face-to-face with them, “you think you could do me a favour?”

Lucky purrs and nudges their head against your leg. You scratch them behind the ear. “I want to send a message to Ephemer and Skuld. Can you do that?”

Lucky shifts into a fluffy pink dog, tail wagging eagerly at the request. You pull out the tiny notebook Ephemer gave you and scrawl a small note on one of the pages, then clip the folded-up paper to Lucky’s collar. “Go see if you can find one of them, okay? I’m going home after I pick a few things up at the market so you can go back there when you’re done.”

With a happy yip, Lucky turns on the spot and disappears into a tiny pink cloud. You let out a sigh as you stand up and put the notebook back into your bag. It’s a nice idea to have the notebooks; you’re not really sure how much any of you will use it or if it’ll help you feel more in the loop, but you’re optimistic. It’s a way to stay in touch with your friends even if you can’t visit them as often as you used to.

The day is so nice as you wander through the market picking up ingredients that you find your thoughts wandering to the hill outside Daybreak Town where you'd shared sea salt ice cream with your Chirithy after a mission one other day long ago. It would probably be a nice place to have a picnic, especially on a sunny day like this. Maybe you can go scope it out once you're done with your errands here? 

You swing by your home on your way to the hill to drop off your groceries, deciding to pack a couple fruits to bring with you on your walk in case you want to stop and have a snack once you arrive. Lucky _poofs_ in front of you as soon as you set your bags down on the kitchen counter, appearing in the form of a black cat again. With a happy meow they leap into your arms, putting their paws against your chest so you can see the note attached to their collar. Oh! 

You set them back on the counter so you have your hands free to unclip the note. It's written on a thick, brownish piece of paper, folded several times over into a tiny square. You smooth it out in front of you.

_Ephemer here. I was just thinking about you! So I'm glad you sent a note._

His handwriting is bubbly and cramped, with little space between the words and big rounded letters. It makes you smile looking at it.

_I'm stuck in the tower doing research today. There's this room in the basement we hadn't checked out yet and it's got a lot of books. Brain spent all of yesterday looking through them and he looked so exhausted this morning I said I'd take over. Some of the books are actually handwritten though, like research journals. I'm not sure who wrote them. They seem too old to have been written by the Foretellers, but I don't know how old the Foretellers were either so it's anyone's guess, really. The handwriting can be hard to read, though. I hope you don't have trouble reading_ _my_ _handwriting!_

_I'm glad your mission went well. You made me hungry reading about your dinner plans. Tell Chirithy hi for me! I'm gonna send Lucky over to Skuld so she can add something too. I haven't seen her much today 'cause she's doing something with Ven while I'm stuck down here in the basement. So, hi Skuld! Hope to see you soon ♥_

He's scribbled a little drawing of a stick figure sitting at a desk with several books piled up around him in the margins, with arrows pointing to the sentences explaining what he's been up to. A little further down the page there's new writing, this time in narrow looping cursive. 

_This is Skuld! It's good to hear from you. This morning Ven and I went to check on the new PvP stuff to see how that's progressing. I'm not sure if Ephemer ever mentioned, but he's the one who came up with the idea to fight the data copies of each wielder instead of the wielders themselves. It was a clever idea that let us follow the rulebook while also avoiding unnecessary conflict._

_Lauriam and I are… tentatively working on Ven's cooking skills. He's been generally present in the kitchen the last couple of days, anyway. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. Ven keeps looking at me while I write this so maybe I'll let him add something afterwards. Lucky is sitting on my lap as a cat. It kind of makes me want one for myself, actually! I'm glad you have each other. Anyway, I should get back to work. Miss you!_

You scan the rest of the page, wondering if she really did let Ven write something, before you flip it over and see a note on the back. The letters are large and pointed, and the sentence curves down the page without any lines to keep it straight.

_Hi!! Skuld told me she's going to send this to you? I hope you're doing good!! And I hope you come back to the tower so we can do some cooking!! - Ven_

Your heart fills with warmth seeing your friends' writing. You fold the paper up carefully again to put in your pocket and stroke Lucky's fur. "Thanks for bringing this," you tell them. "You did great." You set Lucky back down on the floor and put away your purchases, a contented calm settling around you.

"Do you want to come on another walk today?" you ask Lucky as you prepare to head out once more, but they seem content to stay curled up on the sofa so you leave them be. 

"Chirithy?" you call to your companion as you walk between rows of purple-roofed houses neatly lined up along the road. In a _poof_ they're in front of you, standing on a fence post bordering the road. You slow your pace to match Chirithy's as you continue. 

"Oh!" Chirithy says, hopping beside you. "Going somewhere?" 

"Yeah, to the hill outside town," you explain, stepping up onto the curb and spreading your arms to keep your balance as you put one foot in front of the other on the narrow surface. Your foot slips a little as you step on a small pebble and you have a brief moment of alarm before Chirithy touches your arm to steady you again. "Whoops! Thank you." Not that the tiny distance from the curb to the cobblestone road would have been life-threatening, but it was a kind gesture. 

"What are you gonna do out on the hill?" Chirithy asks, jumping down from the fence post to walk beside you. 

You shrug. "I just wanted to see if it would be a good spot to have a picnic at, some day when I don't have a mission. Maybe Ephemer and Skuld could come, too." 

"How are things with your friends?" Chirithy asks inquisitively, keeping a careful eye on your outstretched arms as you continue down the road. 

You smile as you remember the note in your pocket. "Better now, I think. Not perfect. But we're communicating a lot better and it helps me not feel left out as much." The curb drops off as you reach the edge of town and you step down, shaking your arms a little to relieve the tension from holding them up for balance. You stop and turn to Chirithy behind you, crouching down to meet their gaze. 

"Do you want to come? Or maybe you can meet me at the hill if it's a lot of walking." 

Chirithy lets out a tiny sigh, their ears fluttering slightly. "I think I'll call it here for the day. Have fun!" 

You watch them disappear in a poof of clouds before setting off down the road. You have to hike uphill through a winding forest path before finally emerging again into the waning sunlight to see…

"Oh…!" The quiet expression of surprise falls from your lips before you can suppress it. For a moment you think maybe it went unnoticed but… 

"Hmm?" Brain, lying on his back in the grass with his hat tipped over his face, pushes the brim back to take a look at you. 

"Sorry!" you hurry to say, glancing behind you and wondering if you should just not-so-casually go back the way you came. "I didn't mean to… to wake you up from your nap."

"Oh, it's you," he says, sitting up. He doesn't seem upset or anything. It's just… very weird encountering him outside of the tower like this? Especially because it doesn't seem like he was expecting anyone to come by. 

"Well you don't have to just stand there," Brain says, gesturing broadly to the grassy hill. He twists his body to lean against his hand as he gazes out at the horizon. 

You cross the hill with small halting steps, stopping some distance away from him. "Um, I brought some fruit to snack on. Do you want one?" 

He turns to look at you again with a bemused half-smile. "Sure. You come out here much?" 

He looks quite a bit different without his hat on. You hadn't realized how odd it was that he wore it all the time, even while indoors. "Not really. Just a few times before now." You settle on your knees beside him and open your bag to offer your selection of fruit. "The sun was so warm today it made me think it would be nice to have a picnic out here." 

"This is your picnic?" Brain asks, picking out an apple and inspecting it. 

"No!" you reply, a little defensively. You lean sideways to sit with your knees tucked beside you and pick out a fruit for yourself. "I just wanted to scope it out today. I'll make a proper picnic later." 

Brain takes a bite of his apple and falls silent so you do the same with your own fruit. For a brief moment, you consider asking him about the macarons he brought to the potluck, wondering if he'd tell you whether he made them or not since it's just the two of you, but dismiss the thought shortly after it occurs. He probably won't tell you anything he hadn't already said at the potluck.

"So do you…" You start the sentence but realize this might be a personal question to ask, too. Ah, well, too late to take back the words now. "...do you come out here often?"

Brain sits up and crosses his legs, leaning one elbow on his knee to look over at you. "I used to. I met Master Ava here sometimes. This is where she told me I was going to be a Union leader."

"Really? I never knew Master Ava very well, but she seemed…" Oddly, the word seems to get stuck in your throat somewhere and a sting of pain ghosts across the scar on your abdomen. Is this one of the things you can't quite remember? You try restarting the sentence again. "Ephemer spoke highly of her, too. I wasn't in Union Vulpes, but she always struck me as the most approachable of the Foretellers."

"Yeah, she was kind. Observant. Friendlier than someone like Master Aced, that's for sure." He takes another bite of his apple.

You pull at the grass by your knee, sprinkling green shoots over your leg as you think of what to say. "I guess I don't envy the Foretellers' jobs. Or yours, as a Union leader. I know it's a lot of work. It's good to see that you get to take breaks sometimes, too, though. Maybe we could do another potluck sometime?"

"Oh, that reminds me – Skuld and Lauriam are letting Ventus into the kitchen while they cook again. Well, I don't know if Skuld is letting him do much more than peel potatoes, but I think the goal is to get him to a point where he can make edible food without anything exploding."

"I just heard that from Skuld today! I know I'm the one who suggested it, so if you want me to swing by after a mission to keep an eye on Ven or help with the food prep, just let me know. I don't do much else after missions."

"Besides look for picnic locations, you mean?" He chuckles at his own words and it's probably also the first time you've seen him so expressive. It's… nice. He feels more approachable this way. 

"Yeah, this was more of a one-time thing," you reply with a smile, looking down at your lap where you've deposited the grass you uprooted. "But if you want to keep this place to yourself, I understand. Sometimes it's nice to have somewhere that's your own to unwind, especially when you're so busy."

"I don't mind the company."

You glance up at that, but Brain is taking the last bite out of his apple, not facing you. Your smile grows a little wider. "Well, maybe you could come out for a picnic then, whenever I get around to planning it."

He twirls the apple core around on its stem before it breaks off and drops the core onto the grass. "I think I might enjoy that. So long as I don't have to bring any food."

"Those macarons from the potluck were really good, though."

"Sure. Still not getting me to make more food."

 _More_ food? Your suspicions are raised again, but you shrug, feeling it's better to drop the topic. "Well, you could be in charge of the plates and utensils then. And we'll need something to sit on."

Brain flops back against the grass with a sigh, staring up at the sky. "All right, well, keep me posted."

The sun has sunk low enough that it's casting long shadows behind the buildings of Daybreak Town in the distance. Not quite as pretty as the view of the sunset over the water from the lighthouse, but still nice. Today's sunset is very blue, with a hint of mauve along the horizon. There are hardly any clouds, so the stars ought to be visible tonight. 

To think that while you might not spend your days quite as carefree as you did before the Keyblade War, eating ice cream and hanging out with your closest friends after your daily missions, there's a new kind of happiness to be found in getting to know the new Union leaders and being a part of something bigger than yourself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Squeezing this update in before the end of Tuesday (in my timezone, at least)! The beginning of this chapter has been written for a long time, but I couldn't figure out how to end it until recently. I'm happy to finally get to write a little more of the other Union leaders, though! 
> 
> So, KHUx and Dark Road ending soon, huh? If I'm being honest, I'm kind of relieved - it's nice to know there will be a definitive end to this particular chapter of KH, though I definitely hope the characters make a reappearance somewhere. Skuld as Subject X seems likely, and there's a possibility we'll see Ephemer again. I'd also like to see Brain again, though I could see his storyline being wrapped up by the end of KHUx so I'm not sure how hopeful to be there. 
> 
> What are your thoughts on the end of KHUx? Even if we don't see the characters in canon for a while, you'll be seeing more of the keykids in my fics! I'm not done with these characters quite yet :) Thank you for reading!
> 
> Edit: Small update to add I just realized that this is the 52nd chapter I've uploaded as part of my KHUx fics. Which is crazy to think about! That means there's a whole year's worth of weekly chapters you can read. If you've stuck with me this long, I'm eternally grateful. Your comments and support mean a lot. So thank you again!


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